Game Making: Start By Healing the Player

Continuing to interact with the two mischievous children, Dr Neil eventually received another clue: Johnny used to visit the lighthouse at the edge of the cliff very often. 

And there are more of those creepy origami rabbits there. 

So Dong Zhen decided to make the trip over to see if he could find anything useful. The two children naturally wanted to come along. 

On the way to the lighthouse, the three continued to talk, making the slightly boring journey more interesting. 

[ Do you roleplay too? ]

[ I, uh… No? ]

[ He’s not cool enough to do it ] 

[ Hey, I could if I wanted to! …Just you children watch ]

They then found a sleeping squirrel, with which Dr Neil found his chance to make himself known as the cool guy. 

[ Oh no, it’s a terrible squirrel-gon! ]

What?

Dong Zhen sat confused.

(TL: yes I know that was Eva’s dialogue, but the author used it and I also think it was better than Neils dialogue in this part, so I’ll use it)

An exciting background music started to play, and all four of them (including the squirrel) took up battle stances as a turn-based RPG interface appeared. 

[ Don’t worry children, I’ll protect you! ]

The kids stood behind him and looked at each other and shrugged. 

[[ Attack ]] and [[ Defend ]] options could be selected. 

“Oh my God! There’s a combat system in this game? But why does it look so weird, bro?”

Dong Zhen was stunned by the sudden change. He selected [[ Attack ]] and four options appeared. 

[[ Tsunami Kick ]]

[[ Tornado Punch ]]

[[ shoe ]]

[[ other shoe ]]

Dong Zhen was so confused that he picked on at random. Then another option appeared as [[ Yelling volume ]]

[[ Loud ]]

[[ Louder ]]

[[ Loudest ]]

What is happening? What are these options? But he still decisively chose the [[ Loudest ]]

[ Your, uh, time is at an end, squirrel-gon! HYAAAAAAAA– ] Dr Neil shouted at the top of his lungs. 

But the children behind him stood forward. 

[ Stop iiit! Or we tell ma you animal abuse! ]

[ Ya! She’ll call the cops on you! ]

The RPG interface disappeared. And the squirrel gave Dr Neil a disdainful look before scurrying away. 

“What is this gaaaaame! It got me! It fucking got me lads!” 

Dong Zhen gave himself a facepalm and chuckled, understanding that the game had played a comedic trick on him. 

The stream chat was the same, the messages flying faster than he could read. 

• [ Damn, I really thought it was actually going to be a turn-based RPG ]

• [ I feel like I just started watching tv and it got turned off ]

• [ Haha, I was going to ask why the artstyle changed suddenly ]

• [ GOTTEEEEM ]

• [ Chen Xu is such a bad guy ]

• [ Damn that was funny, is there a comedy tag? ]

• [ Might as well have it, a lot of funny bits since the beginning ]

Dong Zhen continued to progress, eventually reaching the lighthouse by the sea. 

There is a gravestone in front of the lighthouse, the words engraved on its surface read: In memory of River E. Wyles. 

“It’s the grave of the old man’s wife.”

Looking at the grave, Dong Zhen recalled what the housekeeper told him, that Johnny’s wife passed away years ago. But why was she buried here by the lighthouse? Was there a special meaning behind it? 

Dong Zhen continued onwards, climbing to the top of the lighthouse. 

Again, this place was filled with origami rabbit, arranged haphazardly but standing. But among the sea of white rabbits, one stood out. It had a yellow tummy while the rest of it was a deep blue. It looked far more intricate and complicated to make compared to the rest of its brethren. 

And unlike the rest, it rested upon a box, like a perch. It was clearly an important item. 

But Dong Zhen was even more confused now. After going on this little trip, it felt like he had a lot of questions and no answers. 

The lighthouses, the origami rabbits, what do they mean?

Full of doubt, he returned to Johnny’s room where Dr Eva was waiting. A futuristic helmet was already put on Johnny’s head, and the medical doctor was on standby to monitor his health. 

The two colleagues put on their own helmets, and entered into the memories of the old man. 

They appeared inside the memory and began to go through the plan. They would start on a recent memory and with the help of mementos holding deep, sentimental value, they would be able to move all the way to his childhood and implant the desire to go to the moon there. 

This way, the machine will be able to simulate a life driven by that desire and ultimately making Johnny fulfill his wish with his own hands.

Inside the house, Dong Zhen found a sheet of music placed on the old man’s piano, titled – “For River”. The composer was Johnny himself, apparently written for his wife. 

Eventually, by the lighthouse behind the house, the two doctors would meet Johnny and introduce themselves. Wanting to know more about the origins of his desire. But they discovered something very strange. 

Dr Neil, filled with curiosity, asked Johnny why he wanted to go to the moon. 

But even Johnny was confused. 

[ I’m sorry, but I really don’t know ]

[ I just… do ]

At this point you could actually draw a question mark on Dong Zhen’s face and he would happily accept it. The chat also expressed their confusion by spamming harder. 

You’re kidding me right? You don’t even know why you want to go to the moon?

Then where is this obsession coming from?

“Chat, is this an alien invasion story? Did this guy get kidnapped by aliens in his childhood?”

Regardless, Dong Zhen carried on. He was actually getting caught up in the story and was very curious now.

Johnny helped out by giving the doctors the two-colored origami rabbit. And they used it to perform a memory hop. 

Time reversed, and the indicator at the top of the screen showed that they were still in Johnny’s old age. 

They were inside the house again, but the floor was filled with origami rabbits. Old Johnny was at the piano, playing the song he wrote for his wife, River, over and over again. 

Her death must have been recent in this time period. 

“The paper rabbits again. Chat, what is up with these rabbits, dude? What do they mean?”

At this point, Dong Zhen was 100% sure that these origami rabbits had something to do with the old man’s wish. 

But another part of him had a few complaints, too. 

So far, the content of the game was simple, all you had to do was look for the memory links. 

Once you find them all, you play a simple, little puzzle and move the plot forward. 

It’s not exactly rich with gameplay features, It’s a very story driven game. Which was not really his style of game.